oooh have you got a ladder to that ivory tower of yours or is there an express lift to get you so far above the rest of us?
I've only been instructing since 1989 and only have 3000 plus hours of instructional time including some in the sim so what do I know?
Not only have I flown extensively in many FSTDs over the years and seen the quality of them improve in terms of flying qualities and graphics but I have taken part in handling quality assessments of FSTDs for DVE training and operational SAR training so I'm not a numpty either.
As Sasless has highlighted - and I think he has much more sim experience than you - simulators are not perfect and can lull you into a false ense of security.
FTSDs are excellent for a lot of things but the subtlties of advancing handling isn't one of them.
I agree that confidence is a vital part of flying but false confidence is dangerous. By all means teach people to monitor the rad alt and AI for such exercises as EOLS but don't make them believe it will be that simple in the real case.
Crab - I like a bit of willy waving and am glad we agree we are both not numpties. But please do not continue the theme that FSTD training is not valuable....for most items....if the instruction is appropriate.
For example, If I teach Auto to EOL, I am fully confident that what I am presenting will work well in the helicopter. I certainly would not bother to go to such lengths and follow up with...."Well the Helicopter is more difficult so don't go away confident".
If you take a moment....and think about what you have written....the reality is actually...…"If you can do it in the FSTD, you will have no problem in the Helicopter" For the reason you so eloquently state, the FSTD is difficult for these exercises. That does not means its not appropriate or productive in preparing us for these events. In majority of cases, this has been my experience taking candidate directly from the FSTD during ITR to the helicopter. The classic example of this is the high speed reject. Difficult in the FSTD so taught by numbers. Easy in the Helicopter so consolidation no problem.